Approval of Minutes

Chairman McGarvey confirmed Members had received and reviewed April 1, 2004 minutes.

A MOTION was Made by Committee Member Andresen, SECONDED by Committee Member Axe, and CARRIED by members present to APPROVE the minutes of April 1, 2004 as written.

Roll Call

Ms. Morad advised that Carolyn Johnson called to notify Staff that she would not be attending. Chairman McGarvey introduced Gem Reid, the new Fullerton City Lights Manager who will be attending meetings on behalf of Property Management. Tamasa Alvarado, previous City Lights Manager was promoted.

City Commissions/ Committees

Ms. Morad confirmed that all members had received a letter from Council dated May 14, 2004 in which Council is soliciting the Committees input. They request that feedback be submitted for review by June 24, 2004 for consideration at the July 20th City Council meeting.

There was uncertainty amongst members thus Ms. Morad explained that this item was placed on the agenda at City Councils request for the purpose of providing SRO Committee Members viewpoint on Committees/Commissions as they exist today, and the changes being proposed.

She explained that this Committee is a little unique in that the committee structure and appointment process is defined in a Settlement Agreement between the developer of the SRO and the City. It defines the SRO appointments as follows:

Participant (Developer) shall nominate two members of the Committee.

Agency (City of Fullerton City Council) shall nominate two members of the Committee.

The final (fifth) member shall be chosen by a majority vote of the four members nominated by the two parties.

All members must be Fullerton residents.

She stated that other than having Councils direction to write a new agreement, there might not be a way to change the current structure.

She asked that the Committee please have a discussion on this topic since these minutes will be provided to Council to communicate the Committees feelings, thoughts, and concerns on the potential changes being proposed by Council.

Discussion:

Committee Member Axe stated that she felt this Committee is necessary for ongoing monitoring and for the Committees participation in the inspections which offers a different perspective than that of the City Inspector. She stated that perhaps the solution is not in totally disbanding the Committee but perhaps modifying the level of participation.

Chairman McGarvey summarized his statements from the last meetings where he expressed pride in how the situation has improved from its very beginning. He stated that this committee has done a good job over the years in its purpose to oversee the facility. He commented that the facility had come a long way from having approximately 30 calls a month in to the paramedics and police reduced to only approximately eight (8) per month. He shared his opinion that the Committee has helped align things with Solari and Property Management. He did express that in his mind, he had questioned the need for the Committee since things are running so smoothly, but item 14, page 9, in the Settlement and Release Agreement between the developer of the project and the City states that there is to be this Committee. Also, things are running smoothly partly due to this committee and Property Managements hard work. He expressed his opinion that this item in the Settlement Agreement needs to be respected and followed until it is otherwise changed by Council or those who can dictate a change. He expressed that personally, he supports the current arrangement and thinks the current appointment of members is a good one. He stated that he has a bit of an argument against Council nominating and accepting people to committees, especially this one.

Committee Member Andresen stated that he would express his opinions, but unfortunately only has about one-year history of involvement as a Committee Member. He stated that if the changes were for concerns or questions about the Committee being necessary or concerns about staff time, he suggests going to fewer meetings rather than disbanding it. He stated that everything is going very well with the Committee as it is now.

Chairman McGarvey explained that the future cannot be foreseen with this facility as far as financially and socially, but there is a need for overseeing a facility of this kind. He suggested to perhaps change things as far as timing, to meeting quarterly. He stated that he believes strongly that this facility is meeting a need in the community and that supervision from a third party is what keeps it going.

Ms. Morad informed the Committee that the Settlement Agreement does not state how often the Committee needs to meet and currently the City web site shows meetings on an as-needed basis.

Members present further discussed and agreed that they offer a different perspective with their feedback on inspections to help make it an overall great facility. They felt that the Committees participation along with Property Management creates a nice check and balance system.

Committee Member Andresen asked if staff had any concerns. Ms. Morad stated that it does help to get an outside view and that all of the major problems in the past have been resolved.

There was CONSENSUS amongst all members present to keep the Committee as is, not to disband this committee, and to keep appointment procedures as currently defined in the Settlement Agreement. They were not in favor of having the committee eliminated or having Council appoint its members.

Discussion of Work Program/Activities

Quarterly Inspection Report City Staff

Ms. Morad advised that Quarterly Inspections were conducted by City Inspector and she will mail out copies of the report. There was only one item that still needed to be corrected.

Ms. Reid advised that the sheet metal around the perimeter of the roof was the only item that needed more work. She stated that the repair was already done, but the City Inspector felt that more work was needed and it will be replaced as instructed.

Next Quarterly Inspection Schedule - Committee

Chairman McGarvey confirmed with Ms. Morad that next Quarterly inspections would be conducted by the Committee and they would take place in July.

There was discussion amongst members present and Property Management to arrange the inspection schedule as follows:

Date

Time

Committee Member(s)

Emergency Responses

Ms. Morad distributed the Report which showed the number of calls to Police and Fire were higher this time than shown on last meetings report. She stated that the number of calls were still within the expected/normal calls for a building of that size.

Chairman McGarvey asked Property Management if they were aware of these Police calls. Ms. Reid indicated that these calls were due to neighbor disputes between a group of residents that were not getting along. The situation escalated to the degree of having a court hearing on May 10, 2004 since there was a child molestation accusation made.

Ms. Reid reported that the judge warned the residents that there was nothing he could do and instructed them to get along and not bother management.

Chairman McGarvey confirmed that these were not young people, but as described by Ms. Reid, a range of people from various age groups and from different floors in the building. Committee Member Andresen questioned if there was a discipline system in place. Ms. Reid said that they can enforce nuisance violations and after three confirmed violations can take action since these are terms for eviction. However, since a lot of these situations are hearsay and one persons word against another, they are difficult to validate and thus enforce.

Ms. Reid stated that this recent situation has been controlled after they held a resident meeting conducted by Property Management. A forum was provided for residents associated with the problem to hold discussions and the situation seems to be diffused.

Chairman McGarvey offered that the Committee is there to be used as a sounding board for situations. He reminded Property Management that at one point the paramedics received numerous calls and it was very costly. Now, the paramedics do not attend the SRO meetings because it is no longer an issue for them.

Next Meeting Date

Chairman McGarvey stated that the next meeting will be held Thursday, August 5, 2004. Ms. Morad informed the Committee that she would not be present but she would assign a staff person to attend in her place.

Non-Agenda Item:

Chairman McGarvey asked the status of Committee Member OConnor. Ms. Morad replied that Staff has been advised by City Clerk that because of his situation, they were waiting to hear from Mr. OConnor before appointing another person.

Ms. Michel informed the Committee that blinds will be installed in the Property Management office. The purpose is to provide Property Management more privacy during hours of non-operation. The blinds will remain open during business hours.